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Question...

To: Jill Dening <>, Chris Sanderson <>
Subject: Question...
From: Gemfyre <>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:36:48 +0800

On the subject of raptors.  Black Kites have been observed carrying smouldering sticks and dropping them in front of a fire front to keep the blaze going, and then picking off fleeing animals for a feed.

I guess bowerbirds use decoration, not sure if that really counts as a tool though.

Belinda
Stirling W.A.


On Mon Aug 30 14:25 , Chris Sanderson <> sent:

<>
Hi Jill,

Another good suggestion! Didn't immediately occur to me but yes that would
also be tool use. New Cal Crows actually make their tools though, and
adjust their design to fit the job they want it for, so they are a fair bit
more advanced than picking up a stone to bash an egg or snail shell in.

Here's an example from a lab studying their behaviour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=TtmLVP0HvDg&feature=related

<http://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=TtmLVP0HvDg&feature=related>The crow is
given a tool (piece of wire) not up to the job and quickly figures out how
to make the right tool to solve the problem! The same behaviour is possible
to see in the wild though, as seen in David Attenborough's Life of Birds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch\?v=xwVhrrDvwPM&feature=fvw

Regards,
Chris

On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 4:13 PM, Jill Dening <m("bigpond.com','','','')","top.opencompose('jdening");">> wrote:

> Chris, what about the Noisy Pitta using a stone or rock as an anvil to
> extract snails from the shells? Or have I misunderstood something? I recall
> seeing a beer stubby used by a Noisy Pitta as a tool where no rocks were to
> be found in the coastal lowlands behind Fraser Island. The stubby was
> surrounded by snail shells.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jill
>
> Jill Dening
> Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
>
> 26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E
>
>
>
> Chris Sanderson wrote:
>
> Hi John,
>
> We don't have birds that are as advanced at using tools as, say, New
> Caledonian Crows, but I believe that Black-breasted Buzzards have been
> observed using stones to break into Emu eggs?
>
> Regards,
> Chris
>
> On Mon, Aug 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM, John Garvin <m("gwptv.com','','','')","top.opencompose('john");">> <m("gwptv.com','','','')","top.opencompose('john");">> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi - I'm a Sydney based writer and have a question relating to a project
> I'm currently researching.
>
> Are there any wild Australian birds that use 'tools' - such as stones or
> shells to hunt or dig?
>
> The context is - a character in a story I'm writing observes a bird using a
> sharp shell or rock as a 'tool' or 'weapon'.
>
> Hope someone out there might be able to offer some suggestions?
>
> Many thanks
>
> John
>
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